Decorating tips and tricks for painting skirting boards

When it comes to decorating your home, your skirting boards are probably not the first thing that springs to mind. But how you paint your skirting boards could make or break your décor scheme.

In the past, it was traditional to paint skirting boards with a thick layer of gloss paint. As skirting boards are at floor level and prone to knocks and bumps, it was often thought this was the more serviceable option. But in recent years savvy home decorators have been embracing the trend for more colourful skirting boards – and for plenty of good reasons. Here’s a look at some of the best contemporary ways of painting your skirting boards and how you can use decorating tricks to enhance your interior.

Using contrasting colour on your skirting boards

Image courtesy of Little Greene

Painting your mdf skirting boards in a contrasting colour to your walls can instantly add a new dimension to your décor. In the case of the room in the image above, where the walls are painted in a pale French grey, the addition of black skirting boards provides a dramatic contrast, especially when combined with a black doorframe and other highlights. Use the skirting board colour to bring together the interior décor scheme and accessories in the room, or go bold with by introducing a completely new colour.

Using tonal colour on your skirting boards

Image courtesy of Little Greene

A colour palette that combines different tones of the same colour, such as two or three tones of pink, works well in a contemporary home. If you’re keen to create the effect of more light and space in a room, use the lightest paint colour on the walls and the darker tone on the skirting boards.

Painting a single colour throughout your room

Image courtesy of Farrow & Ball

Painting your skirting boards the same colour as your walls can have a dramatic effect. From a visual point of view, having the walls and skirting the same colour can result in making a small room feel larger and more spacious. This is because there are less dividing lines in the room produced by contrasting colours. It works with light colours, but can be equally effective with dark colours, such as deep indigo blue.

Using skirting boards to complement your wallpaper

Image courtesy of Little Greene

If you’ve decorated your walls with a wallpaper design you love, you can help it stand out even more by the colour you choose to paint your skirting boards. This image, from Little Greene, demonstrates this perfectly. The fresh shade of paint helps to complement the pretty floral wallpaper design and acts as a way of ‘framing’ it.

Create dark skirting boards to lead the eye

If you have a long narrow room, such as a hallway or landing area, try painting your skirting boards in a darker shade than the wall and ceiling. This creates a clever visual effect that naturally draws the eye towards the darker band of colour and leads your focus towards the rest of the space in your home.

Have you painted your skirting boards in any interesting ways? Do let us know in the comments below.